Documenting
the Historical Experiences of African Americans in Southeastern Michigan
with regard to Health Care, the Health Professions, and the Health Sciences

SPONSORED BY THE W.K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE UNIVERSITY
OF MICHIGAN MEDICAL SCHOOL

From the Project Director:

It
is with a mixture of pride and regret that this project comes to a close
with the distribution of our final newsletter. I am proud of what our
dedicated research team has been able to accomplish with your help and
support. I regret that we are unable to continue our work, but realize
that even good things must sometimes come to an end. I cherish the opportunity
I have had to meet and work with new people. I look forward to future
opportunities to keep in touch, including through the Detroit Satellite
Clinic of our Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

We can justifiably celebrate what this project has achieved. Dr.
George Myers and Ron Amos have assembled the most comprehensive information
available anywhere about African American health care in Southeast Michigan,
highlighted by 41 oral histories. In addition, there is a collection
of rare photographs, extensive materials that provide historical context,
and bibliographies of other resources. Altogether there are approximately
10 linear feet of written material.

And what a history these
documents reveal! These oral histories represent the invaluable and
irreplaceable permanent testimony of those who experienced and influenced
African American health care during the period of legal segregation.
It is a story of unsuspected and unsung innovation and entrepreneurship
as energetic and talented individuals tried to overcome adversity to
provide for the health needs of their community and achieve their own
personal goals. It is a story that can inspire young people and deserves
to be told. I hope that all of you will be able to explore the details
by reading the transcripts at the archives or excerpts that appear on
our web page at: http://www.med.umich.edu/haahc.

I am profoundly grateful for the confidence that the African American
community has shown in our project. Our team was entrusted with information
and given access that few others enjoy. The result is a record of a
heritage that can be conveyed to future generations. We owe a great
debt to our narrators and to the volunteers who devoted many hours to
the success of our National Conference at the Charles H. Wright Museum
of African American History in February 1999. I want to particularly
thank a few of the many individuals who made this project successful.
Dr. Watson Young was our earliest and most ardent supporter. He continues
to be an inspiration. Dr. Charles H. Wright tirelessly supported this
project with his time and advice. He had already written extensively
about the history of African American health care and provided the foundation
for our work. Without his efforts much that we were able to learn would
have already been lost. The help and support of Dr. Lonnie Joe and the
Detroit Medical Society was also crucial in our efforts.

This project was conducted with the financial support of the W. K.
Kellogg Foundation and through funds provided by University of Michigan
Medical School Deans Lorris Betz, M.D., and his successor Allen Lichter,
M.D. The project has also benefited from the help of many students and
community volunteers. Those who served on our staff are listed later
in the newsletter. We also appreciate our academic colleagues who served
as consultants. I particularly thank Nicholas Steneck, Ph.D., who provided
the initial leadership for this project and has continued to provide
wise advice and direction. My deepest personal thanks go to my friend
and co-investigator, Harold W. "Woody" Neighbors, Ph.D.. Woody
is a very productive social scientist with a wealth of experience relevant
to this study. Our joint efforts epitomize the advantages of multidisciplinary
research. His support for this project never wavered and it would never
have succeeded without his guidance.

This project has elicited interest and developed support throughout
the University of Michigan. Encouragement has come from the highest
officers of the University including especially Lisa Tedesco, Vice President
and secretary of the University and Gil Omenn, M.D., Ph.D., Executive
Vice President for Medical Affairs. I also want to recognize the contributions
of the Historical Center for the Health Sciences. This project has stimulated
new collaborations on campus and increased the attention here on issues
of African American health care. I fervently hope that the legacy of
our project will further enhance communication and cooperation between
the University and the community. Much work still is needed to increase
the quality of African American health care.

Although our project is formally coming to an end, I believe that this
is also only the beginning of its impact. Our entire collection has
been accepted in permanent archives throughout Michigan so that it can
be available to students, scholars, and the general public. In a unique
collaborative arrangement, copies of the historical collection are located
at 5 locations in Michigan listed later in this newsletter. Rules for
access differ from institution to institution, but the rules are meant
to protect the collection and not to inhibit use. All would welcome
inquiries and use of the collection. The University of Michigan Medical
School will continue to maintain our web site on the internet so that
highlights of the collection and links to other resources are available
to people throughout the world. Finally, a traveling 20 panel photographic
exhibit "Helping Hands: The African American Health Care Experience
in Southeastern Michigan" developed by this project has been transferred
to the care of the National Center for the Advancement of Blacks in
the Health Professions (NCABHP) and will continue to appear at museums,
educational institutions and community centers. Through these mechanisms,
the work of the project will live on.

The ultimate goal of this project was to provide additional historical
documentation needed to understand African American health care and
to include this important topic in the history of Southeast Michigan.
The past continues to influence our views, relationships, and actions
today. Knowing the past will empower us to improve the future. Our materials
are not the final word. It is important that the African American community
itself continue to tell its own story and interpret its past. We invite
everyone to examine, read, study, and add to what we have assembled.
It is a small beginning that others will build upon.

Norman L. Foster, M.D.

Black-Owned
and Operated Hospitals in the Detroit Metropolitan Area
during the 20th Century

Below are the remaining five of the eighteen hospitals that existed
in the Detroit Metropolitan area during the 20th Century.
The other hospitals were featured in earlier editions of "The
Archive." Please contact George Myers III, Ph.D. at gmyers@umich.edu
if you have photos or information pertaining to the history of these
hospitals.

Founder:
A merger of Boulevard General, Burton Mercy, Trumbull, and Delray Hospitals
(Trumbull and Delray were not African American hospitals)

Location: 2401 20th Street (246 beds)

Newly constructed at a cost of $21 million dollars, this 246-bed general
hospital opened in 1974 following the merger of four smaller Detroit
area hospitals: Boulevard General, Burton Mercy, Delray General, and
Trumbull General. It was located in the southwestern part of Detroit
at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and 23rd Street. The hospital
was established with the goal of maintaining a high-quality community
facility. Serving mainly Latino and African Americans, as well as many
people with limited financial resources, the hospital succeeded in preserving
the tradition of Detroit's African American proprietary hospitals-providing
health care for those who did not have adequate access to it. The reign
of the African American owned and operated hospitals in Detroit ended
in 1991 when the hospital closed its doors due to the "integration"
of the health care system, misconceptions, and fiscal pressures.

National Conference

The
national conference was held at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African
American History (CHWMAAH) in Detroit on February 26, 1999. We would
like to thank all the volunteers that helped make the conference a success
including Nancy Arnold, Alice Brown, Della Goodwin, Liese Hull, Lawler
J. Kirk, Helen Lothery, Joe McNair, Dacia Morris, Jennifer Myers, Kristin
Myers, Ellen Myers, Ophelia Northcross, and Barbara Williford. Special
thanks to our caterer, JoAnne Grear of the Brown Bag and Eatery and
guest conference presenters: Diane Brown, Ph.D., Wayne State University;
Ken Jamerson, M.D., University of Michigan Medical School; Mary Sano,
Ph.D., Columbia University; Nathaniel Wesley, Ph.D, Florida A&M
University; Herbert Smitherman, M.D., MPH, Wayne State University; Vence
Bohnam, J.D., Michigan State University; Rosalie Young, Ph.D., Wayne
State University; and Linda Chatters, Ph.D., University of Michigan
School of Public Health.

Health Care Exhibit

The Kellogg African American
Health Care Project and several citizens formed a partnership with several
institutions in the area to develop this exhibit. The purpose of the
exhibit is to provide a historical context for understanding the African
American experience with health care, the health professions, and the
health sciences in Southeastern Michigan. The exhibit of photographs
and medical artifacts were on display at the Detroit Public Library
and the University of Michigan Hospital. This exhibit has been donated
to the National Center for the Advancement of Blacks in the Health Professions.
Please contact Della Goodwin at P.O. Box 21121, Detroit, Michigan 48221,
if you are interested in displaying this traveling exhibit.

Oral History Collection Narrators

William G. Anderson, D.O.

Reginald P. Ayala, M.B.A.

Arthur W. Boddie, M.D.

Wilma Brakefield-Caldwell, R.N.

Henry C. Bryant, Jr., M.D.

Alice B. Burton, B.A.

Waldo L. Cain, M.D.

James W. Collins, M.D.

Claude and Vivienne Cooper, Pharm. B.

Gladys B. Dillard, R.N., M.P.H.

George D. Gaines, Jr., M.S.W.

Leon Gant, D.D.S.

Herman Glass, Sr.

Della M. Goodwin, R.N., M.S.N

Joseph B. Harris, D.D.S.

Frank P. Iacobell, M.B.A.

Horace L. Jefferson, D.D.S.

Sidney B. Jenkins, M.D.

Dr. Arthur Johnson

Rachel B. Keith, M.D.

William E. Lawson, O.D.

Josephine H. Love, M.A.

Hayward C. Maben, Jr., M.D.

Berna C. Mason, M.A.

Suesetta T. McCree, O.T.

Dorothy Mottley, R.N.

Marjorie Peebles-Meyers, M.D.

David C. Northcross, Jr., M.D.

Ophelia B. Northcross, R.N.

Frank P. Raiford, III, M.D.

Rev. Garther Roberson, Jr.

Rev. Dr. S. L. Roberson

Elsie Smith

Fannie L. Starks, R.N., M.S.N.

Lionel F. Swan, M.D.

Natalia M. Tanner, M.D.

Oretta Mae Todd, R.N., Ph.D.

I. Clara Webb, R.N.

Charles F. Whitten, M.D.

Charles H. Wright, M.D.

Watson Young, M.D.

Comprehensive Listing of Black-Owned and Operated
Hospitals in Metro Detroit

Bailey General Hospital (c. 1970-1974)

Bethesda Hospital (1931-1965)

Boulevard General Hospital (c. 1960-1974)

Burton Mercy Hospital (1949-1974)

Dunbar Memorial Hospital (1918-1927)

Fairview Sanitarium (1931- c. 1960)

Good Samaritan Hospital (1929-1966)

Haynes Memorial Hospital (c. 1950-1967)

Kirwood General Hospital (1943-1974)

Mercy General Hospital (1917-1976)

Mount Lebanon Hospital (1950-1968)

Parkside Hospital (1928-1962)

St. Aubin General Hospital (1931- c. 1947)

Sidney A. Sumby Memorial Hospital (1938-1987)

Southwest Detroit Hospital, Detroit (1974-1991)

Edyth K. Thomas Memorial Hospital (1937-1965)

Trinity Hospital (1934-1962)

Wayne Diagnostic Hospital (1939-1949)

Internet Web Site

Our
web site is fully operational and includes information on the project,
additional links to other sites, selected excerpts from interviews,
and lots more. The address is http://www.med.umich.edu/haahc/.

Oral History Collection Locations:

The collection can be viewed at your leisure at any of the locations
listed below. Please contact each archive regarding hours of operation
and specific policies and procedures governing the use of these materials.

It saddens me that this important historical research
project has come to an end. However, I am hoping this endeavor will
be an impetus for future projects. This work has been both personally
and professionally fulfilling for me. Many of the individuals I met
have been an inspiration to me and provide living evidence of how persistence
and unity can overcome any barriers. The stories in our collection are
very real---reflecting happiness, pain and sorrow, triumph of the human
spirit, anger, perseverance, and most of all pride. I would like to
thank everyone that has supported us and contributed to the success
of the project. Our region not only has played an important role in
American history, but continues to play a crucial role as we head into
the new millennium. As a community, we must continue this work. It is
paramount that the stories continue to be told and the history documented
of the people who lived during an important yet difficult time in American
history. My heroes and heroines are living legends and I thank God for
allowing this work to be part of my life’s accomplishments.

George Myers III, Ph.D.

This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of
Reginald P. Ayala, M.B.A. and Lionel F. Swan, M.D. Below is a brief
summary of some of their professional accomplishments.

Mr.
Reginald P. Ayala
graduated from Michigan State University in 1954 with an
undergraduate degree in hotel management. He later went
on to earned a Masters degree in Business Administration.
As the hospital's Executive Director and Chief Executive
Officer, Mr. Ayala guided Kirwood Hospital through a period
of great growth, expanding the facility from 50 to 160 beds.
He also guided Kirwood Hospital in its drive to attain full
accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of
Hospitals. In 1970, Mr. Ayala became involved in the development
of the Southwest Detroit Hospital. This hospital was the
result of a four-way merger, which included two large, predominantly
black institutions and two smaller community hospitals.
Certified, financed, and promoted by the Greater Detroit
Area Hospital Planning Council, the merger resulted in the
construction of the Southwest Detroit Hospital. The hospital
opened in 1974 as a community hospital committed to serving
the population of Southwest Detroit. Following a steady
decline in occupancy, the Southwest Detroit Hospital closed
its doors in December, 1991, at which time Mr. Reginald
Ayala retired from hospital administration. Mr. Ayala, a
man of courage, dignity and faith, died Thursday, Feb. 3,
2000, at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit.

Dr.
Lionel F. Swan
graduated from Howard University's College of Medicine in 1939. The
following year, he completed his internship at Homer G. Phillips Hospital
in St. Louis, Missouri and began working for the Veterans Administration
at John Andrews Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama. He established a private
practice in Birmingham, Alabama when he finished his Armed Services
tour in 1943. Dr. Swan relocated to Detroit in 1951 and practiced with
Dr. Jerry A. Thornton in River Rouge. Shortly thereafter, he established
a private general practice in Detroit. In 1956, Dr. Swan was a co-founder
of the first NAACP Fight for Freedom Dinner. Dr. Swan has served as
president of the Detroit Medical Society (DMS) and the National Medical
Association (NMA). Chief among Dr.

Swan's contributions was his involvement in integrating
the staffs of Grace and Harper Hospitals. Dr. Swan, a man whose life
can serve as an inspiration to us all died in his Southfield, Michigan
home on Wednesday, June 16, 1999.